Riverside County Supervisors add $1.2 million to discretionary fund

Riverside County’s general fund is a little larger in the wake of the Board of Supervisors’ vote today to deposit $1.2 million in property tax overpayments into the county treasury.

In a 5-0 vote, the board authorized county Treasurer-Tax Collector Don Kent to take the unclaimed money and place into an active account for the county’s discretionary use.

More than 1,000 individuals and businesses were listed as claimants of the funds. The county’s efforts to reach them by mail failed, and none apparently saw the newspaper advertisement announcing that the county was seeking to return the money, which under state law has to be held in abeyance for four years.

Overpayments ranged from $10 to $50,000 and covered the years 1997 to 2007, according to Treasurer-Tax Collector documents.

Several companies and individuals were listed multiple times. Familiar names included Ford, GMAC Financing, Beazer Homes, Countrywide Home Loans and Shell Oil.

The Treasurer-Tax Collector maintains a list of people and businesses eligible for refunds on its website:
http://www.countytreasurer.org/unclaimed-search.aspx.